


Peek Behind the Mask

by dasfreefree, imagine_that_haikyuu



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Costume Parties & Masquerades, F/M, Female!Reader - Freeform, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:33:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24878509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dasfreefree/pseuds/dasfreefree, https://archiveofourown.org/users/imagine_that_haikyuu/pseuds/imagine_that_haikyuu
Summary: You manage to enchant Kuroo at a masquerade ball. Now he's left wondering who this mystery girl is.
Relationships: Kuroo Tetsurou/Reader
Kudos: 56





	Peek Behind the Mask

**Author's Note:**

> This scenario was originally posted on January 28, 2020 to our [tumblr](https://imagine-that-haikyuu.tumblr.com/post/190525542898/im-a-sucker-for-masquerade-balls-and-stuff-thats). Some edits have been made since then.
> 
> Writer: Rachel Lauren
> 
> Anonymous asked: I’m a sucker for masquerade balls and stuff that’s similar. How about a scenario where Kuroo falls in love with his s/o at the ball and she’s incredibly confident but never mentioned her name. The next day he sees her again and remembers her face but she gets shy and tries to run away from him?

“Dance with me.” **  
**

It’s a command rather than a request, but Kuroo obliges nonetheless. He would have danced with you no matter how you phrased it. He takes your hand and leads you out onto the floor. While a slow song plays, and the two of you sway in dance hold. As if a spell has been cast over him, Kuroo can’t focus on anyone else in the room but you. 

Something about you is so enchanting, yet so familiar to him. He’s not sure how or why, though.

“I feel like I know you from somewhere,” he muses.

You let out a wry laugh. “You must be mistaken.” On any other occasion, you would have added, “I’m a nobody” but not tonight. Instead, you say, “I don’t think we’ve ever met before.”

No, tonight you were blessed by something to keep the self-depreciation at bay .Your eyes–framed by a beautiful, red silk mask–fixate on his. For the first time in a long time, you aren’t flustered by the thought of a handsome guy’s attention on you. 

Confidence! That’s what you’ve been blessed with. Maybe it’s the mask covering up your identity that gives you that confidence. Even though Kuroo’s donning a mask as well (everyone in attendance is) you recognized him almost immediately thanks to his tall stature and messy hair. The fact that he doesn’t know who you are means you can be whoever you’d like to be tonight. This evening, you will be playing the mysterious and bewitching leading lady.

While the music comes to an end, you take Kuroo’s arm.

“It would be nice to take a walk outside,” you muse with a bit wistfulness in your tone. “With you by my side, of course.”

“Yeah, these things are super stuffy anyway,” he says while leading you out into the garden. “It’s not really my style.”

“But it’s kind of romantic, don’t you think?” You offer him a cheeky grin and press yourself against his arm.

He waves a hand nonchalantly and flashes you a charming smile. “Sure, sure. But I kind of like this better.”

The two of you stop at the fountain in the center of the garden. It’s lit up for the occasion, water spouting from the trumpets and buckets of the cherub sculptures adorning the fountain.

“Like what better?” you ask, turning to him. 

“Getting to be alone with you.”

Now you realize how close in proximity you are to him. You swallow hard, but try to cool yourself down.

“You’re very sweet, but you barely even know me.”

“And yet, I’m really curious.” His face begins to draw closer to yours. “Who are you?”

“They say curiosity killed the cat–”

“–but satisfaction brought it back. I’m not a fool, you know.” 

His lips hover just above yours. You can feel his breath ghost along your own lips, and the anticipation makes you shiver. His fingers graze the edge of your mask and instinctively you grab his hands.

“Hurry up! It’s almost midnight!”

The sudden shout from elsewhere in the garden snaps you out of your reverie. It’s not directed at you by anyone you know, just some other partygoers calling out to one another for some reason. But you gasp and pull his hands away from you. Your mask remains on while you back away from him. Kuroo blinks in surprise.

“I have to go. It’s almost my curfew!” You lift your dress up just enough and dart back towards the venue. “Sorry!”

“Wait!” he calls out. But you’ve already committed to your exit and their are other couples and groups making their way out into the garden now. Even if he did run after you, he’d have to stop and maneuver around them every few seconds. He’d definitely lose you then.

Curiosity really did kill the cat, but there’s no satisfaction to bring it back this time.

Kuroo’s still beating himself up for the loss in the morning. He racks his brain remembering every detail about you so that maybe he can find you while he’s out and about today. He remembers the color of your perfectly styled hair, which he knows will probably not be styled the same today. He remembers the curve of your lips when you smiled at him, and how close he was to pressing his own against them.

But mostly he remembers your eyes and the way they completely enchanted him with a single look. He can never forget that. Even your mask wasn’t able to hide that.

A walk will clear his head. At least, this is the lie he tells himself: he’s really hoping he’ll find you. Kuroo glances at every girl he walks past, noting their features, but turning away as soon as he sees they fail to resemble the enchantress from last night. A heavy sigh escapes his lips as he starts another lap around the park. 

Another girl is approaching from the opposite direction. He eyes her and notes that her hair color is kind of similar. She’s not looking up from her phone, though. She laughs at something on it and he can’t help but think that that smile seems awfully familiar. It’s when she glances up for a moment to check her surroundings and her eyes land on him that he stops.

Those are the eyes he remembers.

You stop too. With bated breath, you hold his gaze before tearing your eyes from him and picking up your pace. 

“Excuse me,” you murmur as you pass him with a quickening pace.

“Wait!” he calls out. It’s enough to send you into a sprint. He can’t know it’s you! You’re not the person you were last night. You’re not going to be the one to disappoint him, to disappoint yourself.

It’s a futile attempt at an escape, though, as Kuroo’s long legs means he can catch up to you soon enough. Unlike last night, his path to you isn’t blocked by others along the way. He grabs your wrist to stop you in your tracks, but even this isn’t enough for you to look you him in the eye.

“Will you quit with the running away and just talk to me?”

“Um, I…I don’t…” you start. You swallow hard. “I’m not…”

“Come on, I know who you are.”

“You don’t. You don’t know me at all. I’m not that confident girl you met last night. Whoever she was, she was a passing fantasy for the both of us. She’s just a persona I can put on for a few hours, but she can never be me.” You shake his hand from your wrist and turn away from him. “She has to hide behind a mask in order to impress a boy after all.”

He chuckles, “Well, color me impressed then.”

“Huh?”

When you turn back to him, he’s smirking in an unfairly handsome way. You have to avert your gaze from him because now he’s got you a little flustered with that look.

“You still played the part, so the girl I met last night is somewhere inside of you. Maybe she doesn’t live at the surface, but she’s there and you brought that out all by yourself, yeah?” You blink in disbelief at him. “And, I only got to see a part of you last night, but I think I’d like to get to know you a little better.”

Kuroo takes your hand and bows gracefully.

“Kuroo Tetsurou. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, for real this time.”

You giggle and give him a curtsey. “(L/N) (F/N). And the pleasure is all mine.”


End file.
